this issue “the problem of human - unodc.org · “the problem of human trafficking cannot be...

“The problem of human trafficking cannot be ad-dressed by a single stake-

holder, whether public, private or non-govern-

mental. In order to be ef-fective and to provide a

sustainable solution to the issue, engagement must be multi-stakeholder in

approach and focused on partnerships”.

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

Note: Statistics for this newsletter have been provided by the FIA

This issue

Issu

e 10

January - March 2017

13,000 Pakistanis deported from European countries over the past 4 years P.2

Arrests of Human Traffickers and Migrant Smugglers P.3

Policy Level Interventions Undertaken by FIA P.4

Launch of UNODC Country Programme II (2016-19) P.5

Quarterly Data Analysis P.6

&Human Trafficking Migrant smuggling

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Over 13,000 Pakistanis were deported from various European countries over the past four years. The number of deportees is gradually decreasing due to effective measures being taken by the FIA to control human trafficking. The majority of passengers were deported for reasons of overstay, loss of passport, entry refusal, illegal entry, voluntary return, revo-cation of residence permit, rejection of asy-lum case, non-payment of taxes, and/or fake/forged documents.

Starting from 2013, a total of 5,279 immi-grants were deported that year from Europe-an countries. This number declined to 4,330 in 2014 and further to 2,457 in 2015; and a total 1,711 Pakistanis were deported in 2016.

In November 2016, a nationwide crackdown was initiated by the Federal Investigation Agency against human traffickers in collab-oration with other Inter-Agency Task Force

(IATF) members. More than 1,800 raids were conducted during November and December 2016 during which 1,500 suspects from Pun-jab, and 890 from Islamabad Capital Territory, were arrested. Some of these arrests made by the FIA during the quarter are mentioned below.

13,000 Pakistanis deported from European countries over the past 4 years


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1. During early January, the Federal Inves-tigation Agency arrested three human traffick-ers Sohail, Afzal, and Luqman from Gujranwala and Lahore. The culprits had sent four passen-gers namely Zeeshan, Osman, Abid, and Adeel from Gujranwala and Wazirabad to Turkey in exchange for a large amount of money. These persons were later abducted in Turkey by Kurd-ish pirates demanding the equivalent of PKR 2 million each as ransom for their release.

Investigations revealed that the gang took Rs 0.6 million from each person. It was also re-vealed that Sohail and Afzal were brothers: Afzal contacted families for ransom while So-hail sent them videos in which abductees were shown being tortured.

In this specific case the young men were lured into giving large sums of money by the promise of employment in technical areas in Turkey and other European countries. Many travel agen-cies operate under the guise of overseas em-

ployment promoters, and secure large amounts from people who desperately want to move abroad for better economic opportunities. Such people usually fall prey to networks operating in both source and destination countries.

2. On 1 February 2017, the FIA arrested along with his associates the leader of a gang involved in sending young people abroad. Mazhar Iqbal was apprehended in Lahore and his accomplice Zafar Iqbal from Gujranwala, on a tip-off. The FIA had received over 50 com-plaints of fraud against the two.

Investigations revealed that both Mazhar Iqbal and Zafar Iqbal were running their illegal enter-prise under the guise of consultancy services for education and immigration to Canada and United Arab Emirates. During the previous 5 years their fraudulent business had netted them the sum of PKR 12 million.

Arrests of Human Traffickers and Migrant Smugglers

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Policy Level Interventions Undertaken by FIA

The FIA during these years has taken sever-al defining steps to improve its dealing with the issues of human trafficking and migrant smuggling. One of the most important was to draft the Strategic Framework to Combat Hu-man Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling with the assistance of UNODC Pakistan. This has been drafted and finalized in May 2016.

Similarly, concrete steps are being taken to extend the FIA’s jurisdiction to the Torkham border crossing point to more effectively con-trol illegal trafficking and human smuggling.

The FIA Inquiries and Investigation Rules are being revised to ensure transparency, merit, and fairness in process. The strict monitor-ing and vigilance vis a vis performance of all FIA officials has been instituted through the establishment of the Immigration Vigilance Unit.

It is understood that regular progress moni-

toring of the Agency on high profile cases is being done by the Ministry of Interior at a se-nior level, and a cash and reward system has been introduced for the best performers.

As far as prosecution is concerned, for the speedy disposal of pending inquiries and cas-es, and to enhance outreach, a new Anti-Hu-man Trafficking Circle is established in Mar-dan, as well as a Special Court to adjudicate HTMS cases in Gujranwala.


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Launch of UNODC Country Programme II (2016-19)

UNODC launched its USD 70 million Coun-try Programme II (2016-19) under the title ‘Developing Solutions for Drugs and Related Challenges in Pakistan’ on 23 February 2017 at the Serena Hotel, Islamabad. In December 2016 UNODC, in collaboration with the Gov-ernment of Pakistan, had organized a sign-ing ceremony at the United Nations Office in Vienna to officially endorse Country Pro-gramme II, which was then presented to the Permanent Representatives of the Member States of the UN.

Under CP II, UNODC will help enhance the skills and knowledge of law enforcement and criminal justice agencies in overcoming the multi-faceted threats posed by transnation-al organized crime, and would foster greater cooperation amongst neighboring countries to find common and effective solutions.

Mr. Aldo Lale-Demoz, Deputy Executive Di-rector UNODC, visited Islamabad to attend

the presentation of Country Programme II, and in his speech at the ceremony jointly organized by the Narcotics Control Division (NCD) and the UNODC Country Office he stat-ed, ‘The Country Programme II is based on principles of national ownership, upstream policy, and a human rights based approach. Pakistan has demonstrated notable achieve-ments in many areas of cooperation, owing to the national leadership and political com-mitment’.

On the occasion Mr. César Guedes, UNODC Representative, Country Office Pakistan, pre-sented a comprehensive overview of assis-tance for the next four years under Country Programme II. While giving the presentation, Mr. Guedes emphasized that ‘It is an oppor-tunity to further advance Pakistan’s strategy on counter-narcotics, strengthen regional co-operation, and streamline our collective

Continued on Page 08


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Quarterly Data Analysis

General Offloadees

Analysis: There has been an overall in-crease of 938 cases in comparison with the previous quarter, i.e. 62%. A sharp increase has been observed at Lahore Airport (475 cases), Islamabad (324 cases), and Pesha-war (207 cases); and a slight decrease of cases in Karachi, Multan, Faisalabad, and Sialkot in comparison with the previous quarter.

Islamabad Airport remained at the top, where the maximum number of passen-gers were offloaded during the quarter; followed by Lahore, Peshawar, Karachi, Si-alkot, Multan, and Faisalabad.General Offloadees: Comparison with Pre-

vious Quarter by City

Islamabad: Increase of 324 (66%), with fluctuation between February and March.

Karachi: Decrease of 58 (25%), with lowest figure in February.

Lahore: Sharp increase, 475 cases (161%).

Peshawar: Increase of 207 (78%).

Sialkot: Minor decrease of 3 (2.5%).

Multan: Minor decrease of 6 (6%).

Faisalabad: Minor decrease of 1 (6%).

Offloaded on Forged Documents

Analysis: There has been an overall in-crease of 3 cases i.e. 5% in comparison with the previous quarter. An increase has been observed at Lahore Airport: from 19 to 27 cases, at Islamabad Airport: from 9 to 14 cases, and Karachi: from 6 to 11.

Lahore Airport remained at the top with the maximum number of passengers off-loaded on forged documents, while the number declined for Peshawar; and there

were no cases in Quetta, Sialkot, or Mul-tan.

OFD Cases: Comparison with Previous Quarter by City

Islamabad: Increase of 5 (56 %).

Karachi: Increase of 5 (83%).

Lahore: Increase of 8 (42%).

Peshawar: Decrease of 8 (66%).


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General Deportees

Analysis: A slight decrease of 5,236 cas-es has been observed in comparison with the previous quarter, i.e. 20%. A major de-crease was reported in Karachi of 5488; followed by Lahore with a decrease of 276 cases, and Multan with 73 cases. A slight increase of 190 cases was observed at Is-lamabad Airport, in Faisalabad with 39 cas-es, and Sialkot with 381 cases.

GD Cases: Comparison with Previous Quar-ter by City

Karachi: Decrease of 5,488 (37%) with simi-lar figures, overall, throughout the quarter.

Islamabad: Increase of 190 (4%).

Lahore: Decrease of 276 (5%).

Peshawar: Decrease of 9 (5%), with a slight decrease in March.

Sialkot: Increase of 381 (47%).

Multan: Decrease of 73 (25%).

Faisalabad: Increase of 39 (114%).

Analysis: Overall a slight decrease of 5,180 cases, i.e. 20%, has been observed in com-parison with the previous quarter. A major decrease in deportees from Saudi Arabia has been reported: from 20,141 to 14,235; i.e. 29%.

GD Cases: Comparison with Previous Quar-ter by Country

Saudi Arabia: Decrease of 5,906 (29%), with major fluctuations throughout the quarter.

UAE: Increase of 244 (10.5%).

Malaysia: Decrease of 193 (19%).

UK: Increase of 92 cases (21%), with fluc-tuations.

Oman: Decrease of 32 (6%).

Turkey: Sharp increase of 446 (53%).

South Africa: Slight increase of 14 (10%).

Greece: Sharp increase of 161 (34%).

Iran: Minor decrease of 1 (5%).


Newsletter

8Research and Analysis CenterFIA HQ Islamabad

This project was made possible thanks to the financial support from the DIBP (Government of Australia)

Deported on Forged Documents

Analysis: The data shows a slight increase of 6 cases in comparison with the previous

quarter, i.e. 14.7%. The highest number (35) of DFD cases was observed at Lahore Airport during this period.

3. The FIA Punjab Zone has arrested a human trafficker, Muhammad Ijaz, from Fais-alabad during a raid in the Satellite Town area of the city. The exercise was conducted fol-lowing a field intelligence report’s citing an alleged human trafficker of that name. The agency also seized a cash amount of PKR 0.96 million from his possession

The alleged trafficker was running an illegal business of sending people abroad after ob-taining large sums of money from them: Mu-hammad Ijaz was involved in several instanc-es of fraud, extortion, and sending people abroad illegally.

Further investigation revealed that the seized amount was from Muhammad Asif, son of Noor Muhammad, a resident of district Chini-ot, and from two others persons; all of whom had been promised employment in Malaysia.

The raiding team recovered five Pakistani passports, along with fake stamps and other travel documents. A case has been registered against Mohammad Ijaz under the Immigra-tion Ordinance 1979.

efforts to promote the rule of law, good governance, and public health.’

In his address His Excellency Mr Baleegh ur Rehman, Minister of State for Federal Ed-ucation and Professional Training, Interior, and Narcotics Control stated, ‘Being a com-mon and shared responsibility, it requires more concerted efforts of the international community to effectively tackle this men-ace.’

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